The Outdoor Quilt Show at Sisters, OR

The second weekend in July and I was at the outdoor quilt show in Sisters, OR, for the third time. A repeating exhibit is the Stichin’ Post shop wall with quilts made by employees. This year the challenge theme was “Streams of Color.” There are charts at ground level so we can identify who made which ones–this is the first year I’ve noticed that. Firemen help hang them–I wasn’t there early enough to get a photo of hanging action this year. It is hard to believe that 38 years ago, the show began with 12 quilts; now there are over 1000.

Jean Wells Keenan is in charge of placement of quilts, grouping them so they look good together. Last year when by a blue building with blue quilts I was convinced that she considers the colors of the walls as well as the colors of the quilts. This year I didn’t happen by the blue building, but still am convinced.

   Note the red quilt just under the red sign!

And note the warm browns against the brown wall.  These quilts are also all animal related in theme.

My first year at the show, I simply wandered along any street and enjoyed whatever quilts I found.  At my second visit, I noticed that there were special exhibits in addition to the hanging of individual quilts. Both times I frequently retraced my steps, saw quilts over and over, and also missed viewing different quilts. This year I had time to plan, read the list of special exhibits, chose those I wanted to see and noted their location on the town map. Thus I covered more territory and saw more quilts.

Of course I visited my Portland Modern Quilt Guild area!

PMQG Logo quilt and Michael Miller neon fabric challenge quilt

PMQG exhibit, other wall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another interesting special exhibit was of the Hugo quilts by the Cover to Cover group of quilt artists who choose two books a year to inspire their quilts.

I always enjoy book themed quilts, but even more when I know the plot.  The creator, Linda Reinhart, of this one, “Gears,” was standing near her quilt and gave me permission to post its picture here. (I must admit I’d been  glad to have been saying nice things when I realized the artist was in earshot!)

I loved the overall design and the detail.

The embellishment with small gears and red glass beads was just enough.

 

 

 

Using some light and some dark thread for quilting was a very effective design decision. And the quilter had enough skill to handle the contrasting colors. Toward my goal of being able to quilt like that, I attended a class in machine quilting with Barbara Schapel. I will write later about classes.